I hope you can help me make sense of this. I'm looking at changing my caravan for something bigger. My caravan's have generally been lightwieght so no real issue with the MIRO and MTLPM. But now this is a real consideration. My car is not listed on What Tow Car so it hard to make a comparison My cars' spec is as follows:

VW Passat TDi (Diesel) 1.9 Highline

Weight 1653kg

Max Towing weight braked 1500kg

5 Speed

Power 103bhp

Fuel Capacity 70l

Am I looking at 85% of the 1500kg?

Thanks

Nigel

-------------When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.

You can legally tow up to the max tow weight as stated in the car handbook, ie 1500kg, but with 103bhp you will be slow on hills. Because a caravan is large & affected by cross winds it is recomended that you keep around 85% of kerbweight which gives you a caravan with an all up weight, ie not neccessarily loaded to max, of around 1400kg. With only 103bhp, performance at this weight won't be spectacular, but it will do the job.

I used to tow a 1500kg boat with a 100bhp passat tdi estate, yes it was heavy but performance was ok, however a boat isn't as suseptable to cross winds as a caravan and this is what you will notice, the tail will wag the dog more!

Been towing a 1500MTPLM van with a TDCi Mundano for a year or so. About 90-95% match usually. Loaded & driven correctly the match isnt an issue. Your car will be more capable than you think with a heavier van'. Ours is the 130hp version & never struggles. Took the van out with a borrowed Sorrento & preferred the Mondeo, much nicer. Returns well over 30mpg while towing. If you can chip yours to 130hp all the better, but it will make a superb tow-car as it is.

all the earlier correspondents and their 1400 recommendations are correct go for that limitand you will be fine

over 90 is for experienced bods who can anticipate road conditions what with lorries and buses and the bow waves and with cross winds they all affect the van and cause it to move sideways this can lead to a snake when the heavy van takes over from the car as the main direction controller and if you blow it then you are a goner use of brakes can also affect sidemovement and in the early days you are only learning so takle it easy time enough when you gain the experience and then you can be in charge of your own decision making friend of mine had a snake and he was an exzperienced tower now he has a monster car so always stays well below the 85% the lower the better really

1400kg plenty vans at that range unless you are being pushed into the big boy brigade of twin axles etc if so resist it you do not have a 130bhp so the advice there is irrelevant nieither are you a sorrento so ignore that too the mondeo is your equivalent and they are given really good write ups no idea what a mundano is so i will ignore that for you

We just got back from our first break in our new (to us) Sterling Europa, at 1460 kg MTPLM it's the heaviest van we have owned.

It towed beautifully with our VW Passat, a 2001 1.9 TDi estate, automatic, 130 bhp. We previously towed with a variety of cars, a Mitsi 4x4 (too thirsty), Sedona (also thirsty on day to day use) and a Mondeo. The Mondeo and Passat seems very similar performance, capable towing with enough power to get up hills, don't what the different bhp would mean to you.

We were careful not to take too much this time, we sometimes have nearly 60 kg of dogs in the boot! However last year we were loaded to the gills an the Passat took us to Windermere and back safely. It may not be the most exciting car but we like it and rate it highly.

The dealer also ran it through his computer and said it was a safe match.

90 is fine if you are an experienced driver 85 is the general recommendation and a stronger rec. for new towers when you tow for the first time and experience the difference in how the outfit compares to the car on its own you will understand what we mean until then all is theoretical and hypothetical